Mischief's Goddess
by TheOtterbatch
Summary: Thor/Avengers AU. Set before/during the Avengers movie. When the Goddess of Healing meets the God of Mischief in a chance encounter, she could never anticipate much how her life was going to change. Her whole world is turned upside down when one day Loki disappears. Eir sets out on a mission across the universe to bring him home, but can she help him in time?
1. An Unexpected Encounter

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Encounter

The goddess of healing wakes up earlier than many in the house of Odin. She draws back the dusty, holey, ancient forest green curtains from the bay window; revealing views of the palace gardens below. The unsettled dust particles dance in the rays of Sun that invade the small bedroom. The walls of the room are a pale cream colour, but the paint has cracked and discoloured in places, especially in the upper four corners of the room, where dark mould and damp grows every winter. In the centre of the room is a vast four-poster bed with emerald green bed covers, pillows and woollen throw. The bed was huge and dominated the room, it seemed out of place there, with its carved wooden design- as if it was designed for a room far grander than the one in which it resides. Next to the bed is a wooden nightstand; however this was far less ornate and was seemingly designed with a practical purpose in mind and was not meant to be particularly aesthetically pleasing. The surface was almost entirely obscured by textbooks and novels; its owner was a wise woman who revelled in the joy of reading more than most. There were only two other pieces of furniture in the room: a creaky and unstable bookcase that was bursting to the seams, with much of its contents overflowing on the wooden floor below; and a small table and chair, on which there was a large ceramic bowl filled with water and a washcloth.

The resident of the room was the goddess Eir, and she was Queen Frigga's handmaiden. She strolled across the room in her nightgown towards the bowl of water on the table. The water was icy cold but Eir was used to this and she plunged her washcloth into the water. After cleaning her face, Eir turned to the mirror hanging on the wall and took in her appearance. Her long, chocolate brown hair hung straight down her back; not a strand was out of place despite Eir only just waking up. Her piercing green eyes stared back at her as she rubbed the sleep from their corners. Eir turned around, picked up her jade coloured dress from the floor and got dressed for the day ahead.

At precisely 5:45 am, Eir left her quarters, and descended through the halls of the palace of Asgard towards the food hall. At this hour, not many other people were around, so Eir took her time to choose what to eat.

"Umm…. What do you recommend?" She asked a girl next to her, a blonde woman who worked in the kitchens.

"Well… definitely not the bread, that's still left over from yesterday. What about some of the fruit over here, it was picked only half an hour ago by the gardeners- I've only just washed it" she replied.

"Thanks. I might take a few of these apples then- I think Frigga would appreciate a couple herself considering how good they sound!" Eir stooped to collect a few of the apples from the banquet table. She placed them in the oversized pockets that were cleverly concealed within her dress. Eir turned and walked to the furthest corner of the hall, her footsteps echoing in the cavernous room. She sat down and took an apple from her pocket. After taking just a single bite, Eir had to admit that the girl was right; these must have been the best apples of the season so far!

After her breakfast, Eir stood and walked through the food hall towards the exit. It was around 6:30 by now, and more people had arrived for their breakfast. Before she could leave though, her best friend Cecilia spotted her from the other side of the room. Eir waved, and shouted to her "I have to go, but can we catch up later?" Eir was always conscious of what he time was and never wanted to be late to visit Frigga- she was the Queen after all, and Eir didn't want to leave a bad impression. Cecilia gave her quick thumbs up to show that she understood and waved goodbye. Eir turned and weaved through the crowds to find the exit.

Later that day, Eir emerged from the Queen's quarters to take her lunch break. Frigga had loved the apples and thanked Eir for her thoughtfulness. Eir was taken aback; she wasn't used to receiving compliments, certainly not from the Queen! "Umm, thank you" she said, stumbling over her words "It's just that I had one for breakfast, and, and, I thought that, umm, you might enjoy one too. They're the best ones we've had this year, so you should probably be thanking the gardeners who grew them rather than me." She blushed, and covered her face in the hope that Frigga wouldn't see. The Queen had laughed and thanked her again before Eir could make her escape from the conversation- she had never been any good at talking to royalty. Eir might be a goddess herself and she saw Frigga every day, but she still got stage fright when it came to actually making conversation; she was always worried that she would say the wrong thing and embarrass herself.

Eir was walking down the hallway towards the food hall to catch up with Cecilia when she stopped short. There was a painful sounding grunt from behind a column, followed by quite heavy breathing. Being the goddess of healing, she couldn't ever resist the urge to help someone if they sounded in pain, her natural instinct was to always go and help. She quickly spun around on the spot and gingerly stepped towards the column, unsure of whom or what she might find there.

"Prince Loki?" she exclaimed. She was surprised by his appearance; rather than his normal, suave, sophisticated air, he was sitting curled up with his knees drawn towards his chest leaning on the column. Loki didn't notice her appearance at first, but his head snapped up and he locked his gaze with her as soon as she crouched beside him.

"Your majesty, are you alright?" she asked him.

He glared back at her, "does it look like I'm alright?" he replied icily.

Eir was taken aback by his hostility, but it was soon forgotten when she realised what a mess Loki was in. His ebony hair was bedraggled and caked in mud; his olive green clothes were equally mud covered, but were also torn in places. His usually porcelain skin managed to look even paler somehow, like all of the blood had drained from his face. He looked as if he'd been in a fight and certainly hadn't been the winner. Eir was hugely concerned about his appearance; he looked like he could be seriously injured.

"Can I help you, sir? Do you want me to take you to the healing room?" she paused momentarily, "On second thoughts, maybe I should get a healer to come to you." Eir stood up to leave, but frowned when she found that she couldn't; Loki had grabbed the corner of her dress and pulled her back towards him.

"No. I can't go to a healer, I will be viewed as weak and infantile; they will torment me worse than they already have." the prince replied.

What did Loki mean by 'they'? Who were 'they'? Eir was confused. No one would dare to assault a prince as it would be punishable by instant death… Unless…

"Thor" She muttered under her breath. He, Sif, and the Warriors Three were always mocking Loki. They teased him for practising magic. They believed that magic was a woman's skill and that Loki should be learning to fight like all of the other men in Asgard. Eir had secretly admired Loki for his magic skills; he was quite an accomplished magician. Or was that a wizard? Or a sorcerer? Illusionist, maybe? Eir wasn't too sure on what to call him; but whatever the politically correct term was, she revered him for his abilities.

"Yes." Loki replied to her mumble "It seems that him and his friends have grown tired of using words to torment me, and have decided that physical abuse is much more entertaining. I can't say I'm surprised though; the great oaf never was particularly articulate."

Eir was aware that the relationship that Thor and Loki had been fragile and often explosive, but she never thought that he would raise has hand to Loki. She was repulsed by the thought that the King-to-be had the ability to be so cruel and violent towards his brother. (Even if Loki was adopted…)

"But sir, you must see a healer. You are hurt and, quite frankly, you can barely even breathe!"

"Didn't you hear me? I don't want to see a healer!" He yelled at her, well, as close to a yell as he could muster given his particular situation "I've done a healing trance already, so I'll be fine in just a few hours."

"Okay, Fine! Have it your way!" Eir retorted, before realising whom she was addressing. "Crap, sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"

Loki smirked at Eir, obviously amused by her outburst and consequential bumbling apology.

"What can I do to help you then?" Eir asked, flustered.

"I need to rest. Healing spells are hugely draining on my energy. Can you help me to get to my chambers?" he enquired, still smirking.

"Of course I will help your majesty." Eir answered quickly. She would do anything to try and redeem herself in the eyes of the prince.

Eir crouched down once again at Loki's side, placed an arm underneath one of his shoulders and helped lift him to his feet. Loki was quite unstable once he was up, so Eir had to maintain her grip around him. Her arm had slipped down to his waist however, because she didn't realise quite how tall Loki was. She was about five and a half feet tall, but she was instantly dwarfed by Loki's height- which had to be at least six feet tall. Loki stumbled and Eir gripped slightly tighter around Loki's waist which made him wince slightly. Obviously the healing spell he had used hadn't taken full effect yet.

"Excuse me, your majesty. But which way is it to your chambers?" Eir asked. She had only explored some parts of the palace because she was always working and didn't have time off to look around.

So far, in her six years working at the palace she had only seen the servant's wing, the food hall and kitchens, the healing room and Frigga's chambers, as well as the palace gardens.

"Follow my lead, child. I will direct us there." He said, curtly. Eir was a little insulted that he had called her a child. She certainly had a youthful appearance, but she didn't look much younger than her twenty-three years. She couldn't mull over this for long, as suddenly he then turned the corner in the opposite direction to the way Eir had come from. She was surprised, she thought that all of the royals had their rooms in the same part of the palace… then again, she considered, it was probably for the best that Loki was located elsewhere if Thor was bullying him like this.

After walking at a slow pace for about ten minutes, they finally reached a large oak door. It was arched at the top and carved intricately with intertwining vines climbing up the wood. At this point, Loki abruptly stopped and turned to face Eir. They hadn't spoken for the whole journey there- partly because there was no need to speak, partly because Eir wasn't very good at making small talk, and partly because she was trying to map out the route that they had taken to get here- Eir always took every opportunity to expand her knowledge of the palace whenever possible, and this time was no exception.

"So, err, I take it that this is your room then Sir?" Eir stated awkwardly.

"Yes. You may go on your way now; I will go inside to rest." Loki then turned the handle to the door and slipped inside. Eir noticed that he hadn't actually locked the door. She stood there for a moment, at a loss of what to do now that Loki was sorted out. Eir glanced towards the windows on the opposite wall- there was a sundial opposite her that read 12:45 pm. Eir quickly turned around and ran back towards the food hall, she had fifteen minutes left of her lunch break and hadn't even eaten yet.


	2. A Caring Heart

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 2: A Caring Heart

**AN: Hi guys! This is the second chapter to my fanfiction. It is a bit shorter than the last chapter but I wanted to upload it as soon as I could to avoid delaying the progress of the story… Thank you for reading, and as always: follow, favourite and review (constructive criticism and story ideas are welcomed!)**

It was early evening now in Asgard's palace. Eir had finished her day's chores for Frigga, and was heading down to the food hall for dinner. After helping out Loki at lunchtime, Eir hadn't had enough time to eat because she had taken almost all of the rest of her break trying to find her way back from Loki's room. (She'd got lost several times and even ended up in a library that she was unaware even existed! She'd only just got back in time for her afternoon's work.) Anyway, she was now starving hungry and rushed towards the food hall.

However, on her way she paused momentarily. _I wonder if Prince Loki has eaten yet? s_he thought to herself. This stopped her in her tracks and Eir turned around to find that she was almost in exactly the same place she had been earlier that day when she had found Loki. She consulted her mental map of the palace and turned left through a tall archway and walked down the hall to find his room.

After a few wrong turns, Eir finally arrived outside Loki's room. It had taken her the best part of an hour to find her way there, meaning it was now quite late at night. Hesitantly, she knocked twice on the door in quick succession. After receiving no reply from inside the room, Eir was tempted to leave and pretend that she was never there. _Was this a mistake?_ _But then I would have wasted the time it took to get here._

"Just go inside!" she whispered to herself. After a deep breath, she steeled her nerves and turned the handle on the door.

The first thing that she noticed when she walked in was the freezing temperature. She quickly crossed the room to where the large floor-to-ceiling windows were open and pulled them closed; shutting out the cold night air. She walked over to the large inset fireplace on the far wall of the room, where the dying embers were burning down from the previous night and found some kindling to build it into a small fire.

When she turned back, she realised that Loki was lightly snoozing in an armchair facing the fire, not three feet away from her. She jumped a little where she was standing and her heart began to race; his appearance had shocked her because she hadn't previously noticed his presence in the room due to lack of light. She took (yet another) deep breath and walked around his chair, being careful not to disturb his slumber.

_He must be freezing in this room _she thought to herself. She turned to face his bed, which was at the centre of the room. She took the golden weave throw from the end of his bed and shook it out to flatten the fabric. She stepped as quietly as possible around to where Loki was sleeping to cover him carefully with the throw. _There, he should be a bit warmer now at least. _She glanced over to the table in front of Loki and saw that he had an empty plate leftover from yesterday; he couldn't have eaten anything all day! Eir took the plate from the table and decided to bring him back some food from the dining hall- she was going there anyway so she might as well get his dinner as well.

Eir stepped out of the room and closed the heavy oak door behind her. _Wait, what am I doing? I just went into a Prince's room without permission! Oh well, no time to dwell on the past; what's done is done, so I should probably go ahead and grab some dinner…_

It was late at night now, so once again Eir found the food hall almost empty. Not that she minded, it was often busy in the palace and it was nice to have some peace and quiet every so often. The only problem was that most of the food had already been eaten and piles of empty plates and dishes were being cleared away by the kitchen staff. _Ugh! Damn you Volstagg and your enormous appetite!_ After a brief search around the leftovers, Eir managed to uncover enough cheese, biscuits and grapes from the table to fill her and Loki's plates. _That will have to suffice _she hoped, before quickly leaving the hall hoping not to draw attention to herself- she was up rather a lot later than normal and she didn't want to explain why she hadn't gone to bed yet, since Loki was obviously trying to hide the result of his fight with Thor.

After making her speedy exit, she made her way to Loki's room. It took far less time to get there this time because she was slowly getting accustomed to the route taken to get to Loki's room. She opened the door carefully, not wanting to disturb Loki if he was still sleeping. Luckily, he was sleeping deeply enough to not be woken by her entrance.

She set down the plate on the table in front of Loki, before sitting down herself on the velvet green armchair opposite him. She tucked into her own plate of food and soon polished off the whole plate. She looked longingly towards Loki's food, but stopped herself; if he did wake up, he would probably be a bit miffed if someone had eaten all of his food…

Eir stood up and brushed the crumbs of her dress. She decided to leave her plate on the table next to Loki's; his maid would collect it up in the morning. She glanced in the direction of where Loki was sleeping, he looked uncomfortable, curled up in the position that he was. Eir wished she could make him more comfortable and lie him down in his huge bed, but there was no way in Helheim that she'd be able to that without waking him up! Eventually, she resigned herself to tucking a pillow behind his head to stop him getting neck ache when he woke up. It was pitch black outside now at about 11:00pm, and if Eir had any chance of waking up in the morning at her usual time she needed to hurry back to her room and get to sleep as quickly as possible. She reluctantly left the warmth of the fireplace to go back to her quarters.

What Eir didn't notice, however, was the pair of green eyes that opened slowly to watch her leave.


	3. A Friendly Inquiry

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 3: A Friendly Inquiry

**AN: Hi Guys! Firstly, I would just like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has read my story so far- I really appreciate that you all have taken the time to read my story **** And secondly, I thought that I should just let you all know that it's probably going to be quite a long time until I get to the Avengers section of my story. I really want to focus on character development and explore the dynamics of Eir and Loki's relationship before I move on to something more dramatic. So I'm sorry if you wanted a slightly faster moving pace of story right from the start; but I will get there eventually, I promise! (Even if it does take a little while)**

**Anyway… please follow, favourite and review- story ideas and constructive criticism is always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, I own only my OCs.**

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Eir walked quickly and as silently as she could back to her own quarters. It was late, and she didn't want to draw attention to herself for still being awake at this hour. She managed to slip past all of the palace guards (who seemed to be half-asleep) and _almost _made it back to her room… almost.

"Eir? Is that you?" Cecelia, her best friend had spotted her just as she reached the door to her room.

Eir sighed. "Hey, Cece" she replied reluctantly. Her plan of going undetected had evidently just been ruined.

"Why are you up so late? I swear you normally go to bed before the sun has even set!" Cece queried her. "Got a secret lover that I don't know about?" she teased.

"Oh shut up Cece! If I did have a boyfriend, I'm pretty sure you would know about it before I did!" Cece had this uncanny ability where she seemed to know everything about Eir before she did herself. Extra chores, impromptu feasts and potential trouble had all been predicted by Cece in the past; Eir could swear that she had some magical ability to predict the future or something.

Eir had met Cece on the first day working at the palace. They had instantly bonded, and had been like sisters ever since. Cece was beautiful; she had long wavy blonde hair that reached down to her waist and shimmered in the sunlight. Her skin was a pale alabaster, and she had a smattering of girly, delicate freckles across the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks. Eir was considered pretty by any standard, but her beauty paled in comparison to Cece. Cece was always being approached by potential suitors, but she always denied their advances- Cece had a childhood sweetheart whom she met every summer during her week's holiday and they planned to elope this year.

"I wish I had a secret boyfriend; at least then I could stop having you trying to set me up with every man who even glances at me!" she joked with Cece. Cece may be unavailable, but she loved playing matchmaker for Eir.

"Where have you been all day then? I thought we were going to catch up at lunch" Cece complained.

"Can you keep a secret?" Eir whispered to her.

"Really? Of course I can!" Cece was intrigued- _what could Eir know about that she didn't?_

"I was walking to lunch to talk to you when I heard this sound from behind one of the columns, and it was Prince Loki! He was beaten up by Thor and his 'pals' and I had to help him get back to his room" Eir explained "Then, after work today I went into his room to check up on him and get him some food and I got lost on the way, so it took me a lot longer than I thought it would." Eir had actively decided not to tell Cece that Loki was asleep, or that she had covered him with a blanket- Cece had a bad habit of blowing things way out of proportion and getting the wrong impression.

"Oh my God! Really?" Cece exclaimed, shrieking.

_Shush! You'll wake up the whole palace if you're not careful! _Eir worried. "Be quiet- It's a secret! He told me not to let anybody know about it in case Thor finds out. Loki was seriously hurt and he didn't want Thor to think he was weak"

"Oops! Sorry!" Cece whispered back "What the hel was Thor thinking? He's practically king now, and should know better. He's screwed if anyone finds out about this"

"Well no one is going to find out I hope. You have to promise me that you won't tell!" Eir was worried now; Cece had never shared any of her secrets before, but there was always a chance that she might.

"I already promised not to tell!" Cece protested. "But you need to be careful though Eir… Don't forget that Loki is the God of Mischief and Trickery, and he's dangerous!"

Eir laughed off her friend's concerns "You're so paranoid! He's not going to hurt me Cece; he will probably have forgotten who I am by tomorrow! Look, it's late and I'm going to bed now. Goodnight Cece"

"Ugh, fine. But just promise me that you will be careful, okay? Goodnight Eir." And with that, Cece turned and vanished into her own room.

_So much for staying incognito… _Eir sighed. _I just hope that she doesn't tell anyone about this._

Exhausted, Eir turned around and walked into her own room. She kicked of her sandals and her dress and climbed into bed. Eir reached under her pillow and pulled out a huge, heavy book from under her pillow, 'The Encyclopedia Britannica', which was one of her most prized possessions and a gift from Frigga when she had visited Midgard a few years ago. Eir opened the book to a page when the corner had been folded down. She smoothed out the crease and began reading at the entry 'D' for 'Doctor'. Quickly however, it became too difficult to keep her eyes open, and after replacing the hardback underneath her pillow, her drowsiness overcame her and she quickly succumbed to sleep.

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**AN: Sorry for this being quite a short chapter, but I should be uploading the next one pretty quickly. If at all possible, please spare a moment to write me a quick review- it only takes a minute and I highly appreciate feedback on my work- Thank you! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I will see you all soon!**


	4. Summer Solstice

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 4: Summer Solstice

**AN: Hi Guys! This chapter is pretty long so be warned! Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has read my story- over 60 people! That's really awesome and it is nice to know that my effort is being appreciated ;) ALSO, thank you to my first ever follower, it means a lot to me that people like my story enough to want to stick around and read more! Please follow, favourite and review- story ideas and criticism are always welcomed and they mean that you can help to change this story to help make it better!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OCs.**

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The next day Eir woke later than usual. She rolled out of bed at around 7:00 am, and wiped her brow to remove the beads of perspiration. She lazily walked over to her wash bowl, still slightly dazed and disorientated from sleep, and splashed her face with the cold water. It immediately cleared her head and woke her fully up. She dried her face with the sleeve of her nightgown. She picked up her dress and sandals which were strewn across her floor and dressed for the day ahead.

Eir had no need to rush today, for it was the summer solstice and all of the palace workers had the day off, because it was far too hot to do chores around the palace. Eir intended to make full use of this break from work because she knew that she would have to return to the daily grind sooner rather than later. She strolled down the servant's quarters towards the food hall grateful for the late hour because it meant that she wouldn't have an awkward run in with Cecelia.

It wasn't that she was trying to avoid her best friend; it was that after last night Eir wasn't sure if Cece was going to try and warn her about Loki again. She might have made light of Cece's concerns for her yesterday, but underneath she knew that Cece was right- Loki was dangerous; he'd proved that after trying to take the throne from his brother, letting the Frost Giants into Asgard and attempting to kill Thor and Odin after discovering his true parentage. Most of the servants still believed that Loki being a Jotun was just a rumour, but Eir knew differently; she'd seen him in his true form last winter when she happened to look out of her window after it had snowed. He'd transformed momentarily from Aesir to Jotun and then back again in the blink of an eye. Cecelia tried to convince Eir that she had imagined it, but Eir knew differently and had found the prince intriguing ever since.

After eating her breakfast in the great hall, Eir knew exactly what she planned to spend her day doing. She half-walked-half-ran down the corridors to the library that she had accidently discovered yesterday when she had been looking for Loki's room. Reading was one of Eir's favourite past-times and she was bored of her own book collection. She'd read all of them at least three times each, and she was craving something new to get stuck into. Reading was an exceptionally effective means of escapism, and Eir loved that she could disappear into a story for a few days. She could be someone else, live somewhere else and fall in love with imaginary characters over and over again. She loved all of her stories, but it was nice to read something new every so often.

Eir was getting used to navigating around this new part of the palace, and it took her only ten minutes to reach the library again. She breathed in the air; it was filled with a stale, musty scent that Eir loved. This was the smell of ancient books, waiting to be discovered and Eir couldn't wait to devour their pages. She walked amongst the aisles of bookcases. They stretched up to the ceiling that was so high; Eir couldn't even read most of the names on the book's spines.

Eir didn't waste much time wandering around though- she knew exactly what she was after to read. Since her meeting with Loki yesterday, her imagination had been relit and she wished to try and learn magic again. She had tried and failed on numerous occasions to learn even the simplest of tricks, but she never gave up hope. After just a few moments of looking around, she spotted a familiar book spine on the shelf above her. It was at head height, so Eir had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the book and carefully remove it from the shelf without dropping it or disturbing the other books on the shelf.

Success! Eir extracted the book from the shelf and she blew away the dust that had accumulated upon the tops of the pages. This must have been a particularly expensive edition of the novel, which was unusual for a library. It had golden edges to all of the pages and the titled was embossed upon the cover in golden gilt lettering. The cover was a deep iridescent purple colour that shimmered in the sunlight.

_That's curious, _she thought, _there doesn't appear to be any seating in here. Oh well, the floor it is I guess…_Eir lowered herself to the floor, tucking her dress underneath herself and sat cross legged on the cold marble. She turned to the first page, the contents, and read down until she found a spell that she had attempted before- summoning a flame from her fingertips. It seemed like simple, elementary magic, but she had so far been unsuccessful at conjuring even a spark. One of Eir greatest traits though, was her persistence and motivation; she would do whatever she set her mind to, even if it took years to achieve. So far, the closest thing to magic trickery that Eir could achieve was healing, and she had been able to do that for as long as she could remember- it was a gift she was told, and it had granted her the title of Goddess of Healing.

Suddenly, there was a tap on her shoulder. Eir screamed! She dropped her book on the floor, and jumped up. She heard a laugh from behind her and turned to find a grinning Loki standing behind her.

"That reaction was better than I could ever have hoped for!" he joked, still grinning mischievously.

"Your grace, I'm so sorry. You startled me, I had no idea you were standing there" Eir stammered.

"Well that was rather the point of sneaking up on you" he replied, "but I am curious as to why you are here in _my _library, I'm surprised you weren't stopped from entering by the guards."

"_Your library? _I'm so sorry my lord, I had no idea! I thought it was open to use by anyone- I didn't see any guards." Eir replied, training her eyes on the ground to try and avoid letting Loki see her blush.

"Yes, well the guards are rather slacking off their duties lately. Not many people come this way to visit this part of the castle" he said solemnly, before his trademark smirk reappeared. "What are you reading?" he inquired, before (quite stiffly) leaning down to pick up Eir's book from the floor.

"Umm… a book on magic, sir" Eir rushed her response

"Magic?" He looked at her curiously "Why do you want to learn magic?"

"Erm…" She started to reply, her cheeks a bright pink now "It's because of you actually…" she stopped to look up at him. Bad idea. He was grinning even more now. "I just, umm, I saw you doing magic and it kind of inspired me to try it out as well. I'm not any good at it though; I can't even master the basics"

"It can take a lot of time to learn, and there is certainly no such thing as mastering the art" Loki admitted "I've been practising for years and there is still room for improvement. How old are you anyway?"

"Umm, I'm twenty-three." She replied cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"You look much younger if I'm honest. And I was wondering what a young maiden such as yourself was doing in a gentleman's bedchambers at the late hours of the night" He smirked again.

_WHAT? HE SAW ME? I thought he was asleep! Oh my god, I'm screwed, I'm so completely screwed! _Eir panicked. So she did the only thing that she could do… she lied.

"What? I have no idea what you are talking about, sir. I did no such thing!" She blurted out.

Loki's smile vanished instantaneously. It was replaced with an icy stare. He loomed menacingly over Eir. "Must I remind you, girl, that I am the God of Lies" he replied icily. "I cannot tolerate it when people try to deceive me."

Eir was terrified of Loki's threatening behaviour "I...I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it sir- honestly. I wasn't trying to deceive you, I swear." She stuttered "I was only in there because I wanted to check that you were alright and to see if you needed anything. I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark, it's just that I wanted to help you. I… I didn't know that you were awake. If I had done, then I wouldn't have disturbed you, sir. I'm sorry."

Loki's characteristic smile returned to his face and there was a perceptible release of tension in the room. "I'll let your lie slide this time- just don't do it again." Eir let out a breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding in. Loki continued "But I thank you for your concern over my condition as well as the delivery of food to my room."

Loki then took the book Eir had been reading and stretched up to place it back on the shelf. As he did so, the corner of Loki's shirt lifted and Eir was quite clearly able to see a dark purplish bruise on his hip. Eir gasped involuntarily, and Loki whirled around to face her.

"What did you gasp for?" he asked her. Eir was unable to answer at first; her eyes were still fixed on Loki's hip, despite his shirt now covering over the bruise.

She glanced up to see him looking at her, frowning. "I'm sorry, your grace. Only…" she paused in order to phrase what she would say next. "It's just that, well, you've got a large bruise on your hip. I would have thought that a normal bruise would have healed over by now because of the healing spell you recited yesterday. That must mean that… well… I think that the injuries you sustained must be quite serious." She took a deep breath, "I was wondering your grace, if it is within my place to do so, could I examine your bruises further to ascertain how serious the damage is?"

Loki looked at her with a slightly confused expression. _Oh right, I should probably explain that I am the Goddess of Healing… no wonder he looks so confused… _"You see, your grace, I'm goddess of healing, so I could probably fix any ailments that you may have"

Loki's expression cleared momentarily, but then the confusion returned "If you are the so called 'Goddess of Healing' then why are you a handmaiden for Frigga? Surely you should be working in the healing room."

Eir took a moment to consider her answer, "Well you see… I would love to be a healer, I really would. You could even say it is my dream job, but I don't dare ask if I can be for fear of losing my current job. Either outcome, becoming a healer or losing my job, would also mean that I wouldn't be able to see my best friend Cece anymore. She's like a sister to me, and she's the only family I've got so I could never leave her."

He seemed to mull over her answer for a while, deep in thought. "Family isn't all it's cracked up to be" he whispered under his breath bitterly. He looked back at Eir and then unbuttoned his shirt to allow her to further examine his wounds.

Eir took a moment to marvel at his porcelain skin. He had solid, well defined muscles under his shirt that she didn't even know he had. She then saw him looking at her and smirking (again!) causing her to blush (again!). She then cleared her throat, smiled briefly back at Loki and then focused her attention or some particularly deep dark bruising on his chest- like someone had directly elbowed him in the chest, which, she considered, they probably had. She placed her slightly shaking hand on his chest and felt him wince under her touch. She gave him a moment to compose himself before continuing, she smiled inwardly to herself when she felt Loki's heart racing in his chest.

"Well" she concluded "the good news is that most of the bruises should clear up in a few days, so that's good. The bad news is, I think you've got a couple of fractured ribs"

Loki sighed: "Oh great" he retorted sarcastically "Now I will _have_ to go to the healing room. _And _Thor's going to find out for sure. His tormenting me is _never_ going to end, is it?" he asked rhetorically.

"Not necessarily" Eir countered. "I have an idea. Wait here and I'll be back in just a few minutes, don't move anywhere!"

And with that, Eir dashed out of the library without any other explanation.


	5. Eir's Flower

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 5: Eir's Flower

**AN: It's been a while, sorry. Lots of stuff happened (Prom, exams, holidays, Sixth Form introduction days, birthday etc.) and I took a long time to plan this chapter with lots of rewrites, because I wasn't entirely sure on how to word it and I wasn't really happy enough with the previous drafts to publish them on here. Anyway, I'm still not entirely sure about this chapter, but I have to publish it now or it will be good few months (or years!) before I update with a version I am entirely satisfied with! I don't have a beta for my story, although I do proof-read it several times to minimise the risk of making a mistake. If you do spot an error though, please let me know so I can fix it **

**Please favourite, follow and review if you are enjoying the story do far- and even if you don't like it, please still write a review; constructive criticism is always welcome and helps me to improve the story to make it more enjoyable to read! Thank you xox **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OCs.**

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Eir ran from the library as fast as she could, ignorant of the look of confusion plastered over Loki's face. She skidded around the doorway and the sharp turn into the hallway. She gathered up the skirts of her dress in one hand and used the other arm for balance as she sprinted down the marble floor. She was so focused upon her plan that she became blind to the strange, disapproving looks of the other court members as she rushed down the hall, took a sharp left and slowed down to a steady jog.

She faced a set of double doors, with ornate stained glass designs in the windows. One of the doors had been left ajar and warm, golden sunlight streamed in through the small gap, reflecting back off the golden wall. The was a slight breeze blowing through the door, warm as it was midsummer, and carrying a beautiful, rich, sweet scent of flowers; roses, peonies, honeysuckle- all mixed into a wonderful cocktail that was invigorating for the senses.

Eir broke her pace momentarily, pausing to take in a deep breath of the sweet scent. Summer was her preferred season, and the garden was her favourite place to visit. The vibrant hues of green, red, orange, lilac and white interspersed within the borders and around the lawns were heavenly-the most exquisite, manicured gardens on Earth would wilt and wither in comparison to the beauty captured within the stone wall confines of the Asgardian palace.

But Eir had no time to waste on admiring the view, she could do that another day, right now she was on a mission. She slid through the crack in the doorway and ran onto the cobbled grey garden path- temporarily blinded as her eyes adjusted to the dazzling sunlight. She took a sharp left turn down the path past a border of roses and a (rather bewildered) young gardener, tilling the soil. The could instantly recall her mental map of the garden; she was dashing past a trellis, skirting around a wheelbarrow and startling a peacock butterfly before skidding to a halt just past a buckthorn bush.

She then proceeded to pick up the skirts of her dress a little bit higher and stepped onto the soil flowerbed where the bush was situated. She slinked past the edge of the plant, careful to avoid getting scratched by the prickly branches before emerging in a small hollow behind it. It was the sort of place that you would never know existed unless you knew where it was. In this small cavern was a rather dull, normal, weedy little plant with dark green zigzag edge leaves and mud brown stems that was blooming with tanned white flowers. It was almost level with the surface of the ground- the tips of the leaves protruding no more than a few centimetres above ground level. This dull little plant appeared out of place in such a magnificent garden as if it was there by accident, but it was this that Eir was here for.

She crouched down in the small hollow and pulled a flower from the stem closest to her. As if by magic, the stem recoiled into a small little spiral before unfurling to reveal a brand new, fully opened replacement flower where the one before had been. Eir smiled at this, as she always did- it took her by surprise no matter how many times she saw it. She slipped the small, delicate flower into her pocket and then proceeded to exit back the way she had come in. This was always the tricky part though because getting to the plant was the easy bit of the rote, going back again however was not quite so simple…

The little hollow was rather inconvenient because although it was large enough to walk into, even small, dainty little Eir was unable to turn around in the cramped space; consequently, she had to rely on her other senses to guide her back out again as she could not look to see where she was going- this was why she bumped into a man as she emerged from the undergrowth. He was tall, and lightly muscled with brown curly hair and tanned skin- the kind of colour you turned when you have been working outside all day, which, Eir considered, he probably had been.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing in there?" he questioned her; "I almost ran you over with my wheelbarrow!"

"Sorry!" Eir exclaimed "I didn't mean to- I was just getting something… I can't really explain right now- I have to go"

She rushed away from the man as fast as she could manage, leaving him with a somewhat bemused look on his face. She had to be quick as she had left Loki with little explanation and, as a prince; he was probably quite an impatient man. She reached the end of the path and entered back into the palace through the same doors she had gone through earlier. Luckily, a breeze had picked up and the door had been blown further open, allowing Eir to get back in easily and not slacken her pace.

Once again, she face past a sea of faces in the corridors and hallways all with varying shades of annoyance, amusement, confusion and disapproving contorting their facial features. Eir turned left, then right then left again and so on until she found her way back to the library that she had left earlier in such a hurry. She dashed back to the row of books where Loki had been standing, and found him exactly where she left him.

"You're still here!" she huffed, out of breath from running such a long way "I thought that you would have left"

"Why would I leave?" His sweet, warm breath tickled her skin.

"I didn't exactly leave you with much of an explanation, your honour. I thought that you wouldn't have bothered to waste your time waiting for me, a servant, to come back again"

"Clearly, you don't know me very well at all. I find you intriguing, and wanted to know what you were going to do." She blushed at the word 'intriguing' which Loki didn't fail to notice "Also, you suggested that I may not have to go to the healing room, and I was curious about how you managed to reach such a conclusion. You stated that you were the goddess of healing, and yet you didn't encourage me to go to the doctors; that in itself is reason enough for me to stay put"

"Oh" was the only response Eir could manage. She was surprised with the manner in which he was talking to her. He seemed to almost respect her, although she couldn't understand why. _I'm just a handmaiden, why does he find me so interesting? There's no reason for him to be speaking to me at all…_

"Anyway," Loki continued "Why did you leave?"

"Well, your highness, I went to the garden, to find a flower. There's this thing that I can do using it, sort of like a ritual, that can help heal people- and animals- from their injuries. It's like what the healers can do, but much faster. It also tends to work a bit better as well, if I might say so myself."

"A ritual? Is it like using magic?"

"No, not really- I was never taught how to use magic, although I would very much like to learn it. That's why I was reading that book, you see." She paused "What I do is different to magic, I think. As far as I can tell, I'm the only person who can do it. It's not something I do very often because it takes a lot of energy, and I have a bad habit of passing out afterwards."

"Huh. So how does it work then?"

Eir took the small, tanned white flower from her pocket and showed it to Loki "I will crush this flower in my palm, place my hand in yours and close my eyes. I sort of withdraw into my own mind, clear my thoughts and just transfer all of my energy down my body into my fingertips. It usually feels like electricity is passing through my body into the other person's. It's hard to explain, but I can't really find anything to compare it to. The energy will pass through your body, sort of like a wave and will go to work healing and repairing what needs to be done."

"How can I trust that this will work? When will I know it is complete" He asked her, his curiosity getting the better of him. He had an intelligent, scientific mind, unlike Thor, and always wanted to know why and how things happened.

"I had to use it on Cece once-she's my best friend" Eir recalled "From what I can remember, she said that it felt like a perceptible tingling, buzzing feeling which moved through her body and quickly left when it was done. I've only ever used it on a few people, and they have all said similar things- I can't do it to myself though, so I can't tell you how it would feel from my point of view."

"Well, I suppose that it would be worth a try. Tell me what to do and we can give it a shot. I'll be willing to try anything to avoid Thor finding out that he managed to injure me- I'd never hear the end of it."

"Okay then, so just stand here, hold out your hand and close your eyes" Eir instructed. Loki locked his gaze onto hers before closing his eyes, almost in a warning to her not to do anything stupid. She nodded slightly to indicate that she understood and her then motioned for him to close his eyes.

Eir suddenly felt a rush of self-doubt wash over her; _What if it goes wrong? What if it doesn't work? What would happen to me? _She heard Cece's warning about Loki replaying over and over in her head.

She forced herself to take a deep breath and concentrate on what she was doing. She crushed the flower in her palm, placed her hand in his (considerably colder) hand and closed her eyes…

Eir emptied her mind and focused on transferring her energy away from her body towards her hand where the flower would guide the energy into Loki to heal his ribs, his bruises, his cuts and scrapes. The effort she was expending instantly drained her, her energy was ebbing away. After a few moments more she felt exhaustion take hold of her. She released her hand and dropped the flower onto the floor. She was swaying back and forth now, struggling to remain conscious.

Loki opened his eyes slowly, and reached out just in time to catch Eir before she fell to the floor. He lowered her into a sitting position on the floor, leaning her back on the bookcase behind her. Loki crouched by her slender frame and waited for her to wake up.

Half an hour later, Eir began to come to. She sat up a little straighter and opened her eyes, aware of a huge migraine forming at the back of her head. It was then that she saw Loki sitting cross-legged in front of her- she suddenly woke up, her drowsiness and headache quickly forgotten.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked her "you've been out cold for quite a long time; I'd started to get a bit worried"

"Yeah, I'm fine. This wasn't too bad actually- I've been passed out for three days before" She was a little taken aback at his concern over her wellbeing "But anyway, how are you feeling? Did it work?"

The frown on Loki's face instantly vanished, replaced by a beaming smile "I feel amazing, actually. Better than I have for years! Even the bruises have gone"

He then looked deeply into Eir's eyes then and with huge sincerity, "Thank you. This was so very generous, and I feel undeserving of your kindness. I would like to repay you for your help"

Eir was more than a little shocked; she hadn't done this for a reward. She had just wanted to help him. She was about to refuse when he interrupted her thoughts:

"I don't expect that you accept money, so how about I teach you some rudimentary magic? It would be quite simple to do and you would certainly learn quicker than if you read it in some stuffy old book. I could give you lessons in the evenings here in the library, after you have completed your work. It would allow you to learn what you have always wanted to do, and it would occupy my time better than reading does."

"Thank you, sir. This was most unexpected and thoughtful of you, thank you. It would be wonderful to learn, just so long as I would not be an imposition"

"No, of course not, it would be no problem at all. Quite the opposite, in fact, it would be nice to put my magic to a more constructive use than tricking the palace court- it gets to be a little tiring after a while." He replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Well, in that case, I will graciously accept your kind offer. Thank you, your majesty."

"I will notify the guards to allow you to access the library at any time, you might have passed them this time, but you never know if they will actually bother with doing their duties one day…" Loki paused, before adding " One last thing- what did you say your name was?"

"Oh, It's Eir!" she had entirely forgotten to tell him her name!

"Eir" he considered "An unusual and unique name. It rather suits you… Well then Eir, I must insist that you stop calling me your majesty or your highness or whatever; please call me Loki"

"Oh, wow. Thank you so much… Loki" she smiled as she said his name. He beamed back at her with a crooked smirk, and she felt a connection between them- she knew that they would become great friends.

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**Okay, well that's it for this chapter! Sorry for the lengthy hiatus before updating this chapter, but I have been really busy and running out of ideas lately. Luckily, I have now got a decent plan for what I want to do in this story- right up to the start of The Avengers part of the story. That being said, I am always open to ideas from you guys! Please, please, please follow, favourite and review if you are enjoying it so far! Until next time, see you soon xox**


	6. An Announcement

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 6: An Announcement

**AN: Yay, so it's only been a little while since I last updated and already 30 more people have read my story! This makes me really happy and I hope that you guys are enjoying it so far. I would also like to thank the awesome people who have favourited/followed- you guys are the best! Anyway, here is the next chapter, it's only a short one but I hope you like it **

**As always, please follow, favourite and review! xox**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OC's**

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The next morning Eir woke up early after a good night's sleep. There was a light breeze coming from the open window where the first light of day was entering dimly lighting up the room. Eir forced herself to leave her toasty warm bed, and padded across the floor to where her clothes were folded over a small, wooden chair near the door of her room. She quickly changed out of her nightdress and into her dark green dress and flats. After washing her face in the small porcelain basin on her desk, she turned to a small cracked oval mirror on the wall where she brushed her long brown hair and swept it up into a low ponytail.

After she had finished her morning routine, she left her room and walked down the corridor; knocking softly on Cece's door. It swiftly opened, and a surprised Cece wrapped Eir up in a suffocating bear hug.

"Eir, I haven't seen you in ages" Cece squeaked "Come in, come in!" She ushered Eir into her room and gestured for her to sit down on her bed.

Eir sat down onto the soft quilt and Cece pulled over a chair from her dresser to sit on herself. "Umm, yeah so hi Cece!" she giggled.

"How have you been?" Cece inquired.

"Good, good. How about you?"

"Great thanks. I spent yesterday away from the palace visiting Marcus" Eir had forgotten that Cece had planned to meet her fiancé, Marcus, yesterday. They had been together for years, since her early teens and were now engaged.

"Oh, right- I forgot about that! How was it?" Eir asked her.

"It was wonderful! I got there sort of late afternoon, and he introduced me to his uncle and his cousins. And get this- we've set a date for the wedding!"

"You're kidding me! Oh my gosh Cece, that's great news." Eir leaned over and hugged her again, as Cece was beginning to cry tears of happiness. "I'm so happy for you- what date did you decide on?"

"August 2nd, that gives us just enough time to plan it all out. I know that it isn't a lot of notice- but do you think you can come?"

"Of course I can come! I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world. I've heard so much about Marcus now, that I swear I know him better than I know you- it would certainly be a delight to finally meet the man."

"Yay! It's at the little chapel near where I grew up, about half an hour from here. Freya, his sister, is going to be my bridesmaid- she's coming down just for the wedding, she lives six hours away! I was surprised she was going to come at all, I've only ever met her once."

"Wow, that's so nice of her! But speaking of living arrangements, where are you two going to lie after the wedding? I'm pretty sure the both of you wouldn't be able to fit in this small room, so you'd have to request a larger one and that can take months to be arranged. But don't you have to get consent from the Allfather to have a family member live with you?"

Almost instantly Cece's face fell into a sombre expression. She placed a hand on Eir's upper arm and Eir's smile faded, "Cece? What's wrong?"

"Eir, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about for a long time. I've been putting it off for a long time, but I think I need to tell you now. Eir, sweetie, I love you like my own sister and you are the best friend that I have ever had…but…after Marcus and I get married…" her voice cracked and tears rolled down her cheeks profusely "…after we get married, we're going to move into his parent's house in the country. I've already handed in my notice to the Queen, and I've been offered a job in a haberdashery near to the new house. I'm so sorry Eir, I really am. I don't want to leave, but it is the only choice I have. I need to live with my husband, and I want to start a family, and…"

Cece continued talking but Eir was no longer listening to what she was saying. It was like a huge rock had crushed her. She was in shock. Eir couldn't move or breathe and felt as though her whole world was collapsing around her. Cece had always been there for her, and it was like a security blanket had been ripped out from underneath her- leaving Eir feeling exposed and vulnerable. _Cece can't leave; she's the only friend I have here! It's selfish of me to want her to stay, but life is going to be so lonely, boring and mundane without her here. I don't want her to go!_

"Eir? Sweetie? Are you alright?" Cece was worried; all of the colour had drained from Eir's face and she hadn't spoken for several minutes.

Instead of speaking, Eir simply met Cece's gaze and let a single tear roll down her cheekbone and drip off the edge of her jaw. Then, suddenly, she launched herself at her friend and wrapped her arms around Cece's body and wept. She cried longer than she ever had before, and continued to sob long after the tears had dried up.

She then stood up, brushed down her clothes, wiped her face with the backs of her hands and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry Cece. It's just that I don't want you to go. I know you have to go, but I just don't want you to. You're the only friend that I have here and I don't know what I would do without you. I love you Cece, and I'm happy for you. I'm going to miss you so much when you go, but I guess that your happiness is what really matters here- so go and live in the countryside, have children, and most importantly; have fun!"

"Oh sweetie, I'm so glad that you understand! You're not mad at me are you?"

"No, I'm not mad at you! I'll have to make the most of the time I have left with you before you leave. Watch out, I might end up following you everywhere." Eir joked.

"Haha, it'll be like having a constant shadow! But luckily for me, I happen to know that your work starts in ten minutes, so I'll be able to escape you at least for now."

"Crap! I haven't even eaten breakfast yet! Thanks for the reminder Cece, but I promise that I will be back as soon as I can after work…wait!" Eir had just remembered about Loki's promise to her "I can't come back tonight! I have lessons later on tonight with Loki- he's teaching me magic."

Cece raised her eyebrow at this, but made no remark. Eir promised to explain everything later, but right now she had to get to work so she dashed out of Cece's room and down to the food hall to get breakfast.

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**AN: I know! No Loki in this chapter, but I promise that he will show up again soon enough. I'm going on holiday in a few days so I might not be able to update for a week or so because I'm not sure about the internet connection there… Anyway, I promise to update again as soon as I can!**

**Please follow, favourite and especially review! It only takes a few seconds and it really helps me to gauge whether you are liking the story or not! See you soon for the next chapter, TheOtterbatch xox**


	7. A Royal Blessing

Mischief's Goddess

By TheOtterbatch

Chapter 7: A Royal Blessing

**AN: Super-duper short chapter here that I wanted to publish quickly before I go on holiday for a week **** I feel like I should really class this as a bonus chapter because it's probably not long enough to call it a full-length chapter! Quick thank you again to everyone who has read the story, and is following its progress! Please follow, favourite and review- and I will hopefully see you all later next week xox**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, only my OC's.**

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As soon as Cece's door was closed behind her, Eir ran as fast as she could to the food hall. She was going to be late for work if she wasn't careful, so she needed to get something to eat on the go. She turned down the final hallway to the food hall, and stopped in her tracks. The food hall was packed! There were people _everywhere _and a line had started to form outside the door. _This is why I always get here early _Eir contemplated _I'm never going to be able to even get in here._

Eir quickly abandoned the idea of breakfast, and chose instead to start her chores a little early. _At least that way, I might be able to finish quicker and have time to eat before meeting Loki again later. _Eir turned away from the throng of people and sauntered towards Frigga's quarters.

"Is there anything else which you require me to do, your highness?"

Eir had been rushing her work all day to try and complete her chores as quickly as she could. She felt a mixture of nerves, anxiety and excitement ahead of her first lesson with Loki. She was also grateful because it served as a distraction from the news of Cece's leaving. Instead, she could let her mind wander, to think about what had in store for her.

"No thank you, Eir. That should be all for today." The Queen smiled. "Why? Is there somewhere you would rather be?"

"Umm, sort of I guess. I'm going to the food hall early to get something to eat. I've not eaten since yesterday because I missed breakfast today and skipped lunch. I was rushing to do my work so quickly that I sort of forgot to eat, your majesty." Eir blushed "I want to try and give myself enough time to have a decent meal before I go and meet Prince Loki, your majesty. He's offered to teach me magic."

Frigga was obviously surprised "Loki, you say? That's rather unusually kind of him- what has possibly caused him to act so out of character?"

Eir fidgeted awkwardly on the spot, remembering Loki's warning to her that she shouldn't tell anyone about his injuries. She'd already broken that promise once, telling Cece, but she didn't want to tell anyone else- especially not Frigga- in case the news got back to Thor. Tugging at her dress and refusing to make eye contact, she simply said "I'm so sorry, my Queen- he's asked me not to tell anyone, your majesty. I promised to keep it a secret. My apologies, your highness- but I suppose that you could say I helped him and so now he's helping me in return."

The Queen looked warmly at Eir. "Keeping secrets from me are we, dear? Never mind, if Loki wants you to keep it secret then it shall stay that way. But for him to be giving up his time to teach you, it suggests to me that he thinks you're worth his while. He must consider you to be very special in some way" She smiled again and Eir blushed once more.

"I'm not so sure about that, your highness. I'm only your handmaiden- not a noble or a princess or such…" Eir trailed off.

"Nonsense. It's not what fancy title you have that makes you special, it's who you are, and what you're made of on the inside that counts. He thinks that you are unusual and unique enough to be worth his time, and that in itself is quite an honour! You will learn well from him Eir. He's the most skilled magician that I have ever seen- and I promise that I'm not being biased about that, just because he's my son."

"Thank you, your highness. And I know you're not being biased- honestly I feel like it's a dream come true that he has given me this opportunity. I've wanted to learn ever since I was little, and this is the best opportunity I could ever have to learn."

"Well, all I can do is wish you good luck my dear! If I may, can I give you one last piece of advice?" Eir nodded, and so Frigga continued. "Be careful around Loki, my dear. He may be my son, and I love him very much, but he does have a rather mischievous streak in him. He loves nothing better than to play tricks on people; so make sure that you watch your back." She warned, somewhat jokingly.

"Thank you, your majesty- I will keep that in mind for sure." Eir turned and walked to the door, turning the handle. "Goodbye, your highness."

She closed the door behind her and began on her way to the food hall. _That's the second person to have warned me about Loki so far. He can't be that bad, surely?_

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**AN: Sorry- I know, I know, there was no Loki in this chapter either! I promise he will be back next time though! **** I hope you enjoyed-please follow, favourite and review!**


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